Labeling machine



Dec. 1 4 1,517,621

I E. ERM OLD LABELING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY.

E. ERMOLD LABELING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 l gg-z.

INVENTOR. 7

749 Q x3 ATTOZIJEY.

E. ERMOLD LABELING MACHINE Fi led May 6 6 Sheets-Sheet s 46 55 INVENTR. W 5M K? ATTORNEY.

Dec. 9 2 1,517,621

- E. E'RMOLD LABELING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 63 I N VEN TOR.

Dec. 2, 1924. 1'517,621

E. ERMOLD' LABELING-MACHINE Filed May 6, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Z9 INVENTOR. --J

Dec. 1924- 1,517,621

E. ERMOLD LABELING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 2, 1924 PATENT "OFFICE.

EDWARD ERMOLD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LABELING MACHINE.

Application filed May' 6, 1924. Seriatl No. 711,329.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD ERMOLD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Labeling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for applying labels to bottles,

1 broom handles, and similar articles, and the objects of the invention are to provide a machine with a plurality of label boxes from which labels can be alternately extracted to be placed on different portions of the article to be labeled. Further objects of the invention' are to provide means for labeling handles, like broom, rake or hoe handles inone or more places, with one or more labels, after which the handles can be shoved 29 through the machine, without being withdrawn, for assembling at the back of the machine, out of the way of the handles to be labeled in front of the machine.

To the accomplishment of the above objects and to such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention comprises, in the present instance, two label boxes for holding two sets of labels arranged to be reciprocated back and forth to present first one set of labels and then the other set of labels for alternate engagement with a single set of pickers, which transfer the different labels to the article to be labeled, presented on the rest in two different positions. The invention further comprises, in the present instance, means which permit of handles and similar articles, after they have been labeled, being shoved by hand through the machine, the operating parts in the rear of the rest W being arranged to be out of the way as soon as the handle or similar article is labeled.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a right side view of a labeling machine made in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged front view of the upper part of the labeling machine shown in Fig. 1, the lower part bein broken away.

Figure 3 is an enlarge sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 1 is an enlarged left side view of the labeling machine shown in Fig. 1, the lower part being broken away.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail front view, partly in section, with parts broken away, of the label boxes.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail plan View, partly in section, with parts broken away, of the label boxes and the label box bracket.

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail front View, with parts broken away of the label boxes and label box reciprocating means.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail front View, with parts broken away of the wipers in position to wipe a label on an article on the rest, the label being held in position by the grip finger.

Figure 9 is an enlarged detail View of the clutch mechanism for starting and stopping the labeling machine. 1

The different parts of the improved labeling machine are all supported upon a suitable frame 1, the operative parts being in the present instance driven by means of a motor 2 situated in the upper part of the frame.

The shaft of the motor is provided with a pinion 3, which meshes with a gear 4 secured to one end of a shaft 5 passing through the frame of the machine and provided at its other end with a small pulley 6, which drives a larger pulley 7, mounted on one end of a shaft 8 situated in the lower part of the frame of the machine, by means of a belt 9. To the other end of the shaft 8 is secured a gear 10 which meshes with a gear 11 mounted upon a sleeve 12, provided with a fiy-wheel 13, the same being operatively connected to a cam shaft 14 by means of a clutch 15 which is operated through the medium of levers 16 and 17 by a foot treadle 18, normally held in neutral position by means of a spring 19. In the present instance the clutch 15 is pro? vided with a spring pressed lug 20 which is normally held in neutral position bv the end of the lever 16 which when withdrawn by depressing the foot treadle 18, permits the lug 20 to engage one of a series of notches 21 on a sleeve plate 22 to start the machine by rotating the cam shaft 14, as shown in Fig. 9.

Suitably secured to the front of the frame of the machine by means of a plate 23, is a bracket 24 which supports a suitable rest 25 for bottles, broom handles or similar articles to be labeled. The rest, in the present instance, is provided .with a back rest 26 for bottles and similar containers, this back rest can be removed when it is desired to label broom handles and similar articles, the parts of the machine in the rear of the rest 25 to a plate 30 while the lower ends are secured to a plate 31, provided with suitable bosses 32 through which pass bolts 33 secured 'to the lower edge of a back plate 34 having two sets of rear lugs 35 which movably engage bracket rods 36 the lower ends of which are secured to the forward end of a label box bracket 37. The label box bracket 37 is bifurcated intermediate of its length and secured to a reciprocating shaft 38, the rear end of the label box bracket 37 being provided with rollers 39 which engage a shaft 40 the ends of which are secured to the sides of the frame of the machine. The reciprocating shaft 38 is slidably mounted in the sides of the frame of the machine, beyond the width of which it projects, and is provided at one end with a collar 41 and at the other end with a downwardly extending end of a rack 42 the other downwardly extending end of which is secured to the reciprocating shaft 38 intermediate of its length between the bifurcated portions of the label box bracket'37.

The label boxes 27 and 28 are reciprocated 'back and forth through the medium of a geared sector 43 rotatably mounted by means of a pivot bolt 44 on the upper end of a bracket 45 secured to the top of the frame of the machine. The upper end of the geared sector 43 is secured to an arm 46, to the outer end of which is pivoted the upper end of an adjustable link 47 the lower end of which is pivoted by meansof a pivot pin 48 to a collar 49 secured to the intermediate portion of. a

forked link 50, slidably mounted near its upper end in a bearing lug 51 secured to the side of the frame of the machine. The lower forked end of the forked lever 50 is arranged to slidably engage a roller 51 rotatably mounted on a stud shaft 52 secured to the frame of the; machine and upon which is rotatably mounted a label box cam disk 53 having secured to its rear side a gear 54 which meshes with a gear 55 secured to the cam shaft 14. The forked lever 50 adjacent its lower end is provided with a cam roller 55' which engages a label box closed cam 56 which acts to' control the movements of the label boxes to present first one andthen the other to the action of the pickers presently to be described.

Pickers 57 are provided for renroving the labels from the label boxes, the pickers in the present instance being mounted upon the outer ends of downwardly and outwardly extending picker levers 58 pivoted at their inner ends by means of pivot bolts 59 to the opposite sides of the frame of the machine. The picker levers 58 are in the present instance suitably connected by means of downwardly curved cross braces 59 so placed as to leave an open passageway through the machine in the rear of the bottle rest so that articles like broom handles and the like can be shoved through the machine after being labeled as before referred to. The inner end of one of the picker levers 58 is suitably extended to the rear of the machine and is pivoted to one end of a short link 59 to the other end of which is 'adjustably secured one end of a link 60 the one end of a picker cam lever 62 the other end of which is pivoted by means of a pivot bolt 63 to the front of the frame of the machine. The picker cam lever 62 is provided intermediate of its length with a cam roller 64 which engages a picker open cam 65 mounted on the cam shaft 14 which acts to control the movements of the pickers 57 in removing labels from the label boxes and transferringthem to the articles to be labeled on the rest 25. The cam roller 64 is kept into engagement with the picker cam 65 by means of a helical spring 66, one end of which is secured to the picker cam lever 62 and the other end to the side of the frame of the machine. The lower end of the short link 59 is provided with a suitable lug to which is adjustably connected one end of a helical spring 67 the lower end of which is connected to the picker cam lever 62, the spring 67 acting in conjunction with the elongated slot 61 to regulate the action of the pickers 57 when the same act to withdraw labels from the label boxes.

The back plate 34 of the label boxes is provided with suitable bearing lugs 68 in which is rotatably mounted a crank shaft 69 having a crank 70 at one end and at the other end a short link 71 pivoted to another short link 72 which is pivoted to 9. lug 73 secured to the forward end of the label box bracket 37. By operating the crank 70 it will be seen that the label boxes can be raised or lowered on the bracket rods 36 a short distance which is sufiicient to bring the label boxes into or out of engagement with the pickers at the end of their upward movement of travel.

The upwardly inclined rods 29 of the label boxes are provided with adjustable 'label plates 74 and 75 to which are secured label fingers 76 having lips 77 which are arranged engaged by the bottom. of a label bar 81 slidably supported in each instance in a guide 82 adjustably secured to an arm 83 secured to the back plate 34. Each label bar 81 is provided with ratchet teeth 84 which are arranged to be engaged by a pawl 85 which acts in each instance to prevent the pile of labels moving upward when engaged by the pickers, the label bar 81 being of sufficient weight to move downward as the labels are removed. v

The picker cam 65 and the label box cam 56 are so designed and set that the pickers 57 on their downward movement, with the parts set as shown in Fig. 2, will engage the bottom, label in the pile of labels 78 and transfer the same tothe article to be labeled on the rest 25. Before the next upward movement of the pickers 57 the label box cam 56 has acted to reciprocate the label 1 boxes so that the pickers 57 will, on their next upward movement, engage the bottom label in the pile of labels 79 and transfer the same to the article to be labeled which has in the meantime been turned or shifted by hand to present a newsurface to be labeled. In the case of bottles to be labeled one label can be placed on one side of the bottle and a different label can be placed upon the other side of the bottle by simply turning the bottle on the rest, whereas in the case of handles like broom handles the same can be labeled near one end and then near the other end with a different label by simply pushing the same along the rest after which in the case of handles the same can be pushed through the machine to the other side where they are out of the way of the handles to be labeled.

A paste roller 86 is provided for applying paste to the upper surfaces of the pickers 57. The paste roller in the present instance is adjustably mounted on the upper bent ends of the downwardly extending paste roller levers 87 the lower ends of which are secured to a shaft 88 adjacent the opposite sides of the frame of the machine, in which the shaft 88 is rotatably mounted. Oneof the paste roller levers 87 is provided with an arm 89 to the outer end of which is pivoted one end a paste roller cam lever 90, the other end of which is forked'and arranged to slidably engage a roller'91 on the cam shaft 14. The paste roller cam lever 90 is provided with a cam roller 92 which engages a paste roller open cam 93 mounted on the cam shaft 14 which acts to control the .movements of the paste roller 86 in applying paste to the upper surfaces of the pickers. The cam roller 92 is kept into engagement with the paste roller cam 93 by means of a helical spring 94 one end of which is secured to an extension of the arm 89 and the other end to the frame of the machine.

in Fig. 3, in, order to coat the surfaces of the pickers with paste. On the further upward movement of the pickers and the paste roller the pickers engage the bottom label in the label receptacle while the paste roller engages a roller 95 rotatably mounted in a paste boxi96 removably mounted on the frame of the machine by means of a shelf 97. The roller 95 is provided with a gear 97 which meshes with a gear 98 secured to.

one end of a shaft 99 rotatably mounted in the frame of the machine to the other end of which is secured another gear 100 which is driven through the medium of a sprocket chain 101 by a gear 102 secured to the shaft 8. Suitable idlers 103 and 104. one of which is rotatably mounted on the frame of the machine, are connected together by means of a weighted lever 105 for taking up slack in the sprocket chain 101 with which they are both in mesh. In order to insure the paste roller 86 receiving a uniform coating of paste, the same is provided with a gear 106 which is arranged to mesh with the gear 97 when the paste roller is moved into engagement with the roller 95. A suitable scraper 107 rotatably mounted on an upward extension 108 of the shelf 97 is provided for regulating the amount of paste on the roller 95. One end of the scraper 107 is secured to the middle portion of a bent lever 109 the upper end of which bears against an adjusting screw 110 secured to an extension 111 mounted on the frame of the machine, the bent lever 109 being kept into flexible engagement with the ad usting screw 110 by means of a helical spring 112 one end of which is secured to the lower end of the bent lever 109 and the other end to the frame of the machine.

A presser arm or grip finger 113 is provided fol-holding the labels in position on the article to be labeled after the pickers have moved to their lowermost position: the grip finger in the present instance is pivoted. adjacent the outer end of a presser arm 114 the inner end of which is adjustablv secured to the outer ends of outwardly and downwardly extending presser levers 115 pivoted at their downwardly extending inner ends by means of pivot bolts 116, to the lower ends of downwardly and forwardlyextending brackets 117 secured to the front of the shelf 97 so that articles like broom handles and the like can be shoved through the machine after being labeled as before referred to. The rearwardly extending end of one of the presser levers 115.is pivoted to one end of a short curved link 119 to the other end of which is movably its length with a cam roller 124- which eni gages a presser open cam 125 mounted on the cam shaft 14 which acts to control the movements of the grip finger 113 in holding labels on the article to be labeled on the rest after they have been placed in position by P the pickers as before referred to. The caih roller 124 is kept into engagement with the presser cam 125 by means of a. helical spring 126 one end of which is secured to the presser cam lever 122 and the other end to i the side of the frame of the machine. V

VV1pers 127 are provided for wiping the labels on the article to be labeled after the grip finger has engaged the label and the pickers moved upward out of the way. The wipers in the present instance are yielding rubber plates suitably secured in holders 128 pivoted to the upper ends of crank arms 129, which are pivoted intermediate their length to a yoke plate 130 by means of pivot bolts 131. In order to provide a certain amount of flexibility to the wipers in addition to the resiliency of the rubber plates the holders 128 are provided with suitable lugs 132 which are flexibly connected to the ends of lugs 133 secured to the lower ends of the crank arms 129 by means of springs 134. The lower ends of the crank arms 129' are pivotally connected, by means of pivot I bolts 135, to the upper ends of links 136 the 1 lower ends of which are pivoted, by means of a pivotlbolt 137, to a vertical slide 138 which runs in a guide 139 secured to the back of the plate 23. The lower end of theslide 138 is provided with a rear extension 140 to which is pivoted one end of two short links 141 the upper ends of which are pivoted to one end of a wiper oscillating cam lever 142 the other end of which is pivoted to the shaft 123. The wiper oscillating cam lever 142 is provided intermediate of its length with a cam roller 143 whichengages a wiper oscillating closed cam144 mounted on the cam shaft 14 which acts to control the oscillations of the wipers in applying the labels to the articles to be labeled. 1

In addition to oscillating the wipers 127 the same are also re'ciprocated up and down by reciprocating the yoke plate 130 to which the wipers are pivoted through the medium of the pivot bolts 131. The yoke plate 130 is mounted in suitable guideways 145 on the frame of the machine and is suitably pivoted to the upper ends of short links 146 the lower en of which is pivoted to-one end of a wiper reciprocating cam lever 147 the the wiper reciprocating cam 149 which acts to reciprocate the wipers 127 up and down are so designed and set, in relation to the cams which operate the pickers 57 and the grip finger 113, that the wipers will remain in open position, as shown for example, in Fig. 2 until the pickers have placed a label on the article to be labeled to be engaged by the grip finger; after which the pickers move up out of the way while the wipers are moved into closed position, as shown in Fig. 8, by the action of the wiper oscillating cam 144, after which the wipers are moved downward to wipe the label on the article to be labeled by the action of the wiper reciproeating cam 149. After the label has been wiped upon-the article to be labeled, the

wiper oscillating cam 144 again operates tobring the wipers into open position and the wiper reciprocatingzcani 149 again operates to bring the wipers into raised position.

The operation of the labeling machine is as follows; when for example, it is desired to label a bottle 150 the same is placed in position on the bottle rest 25 against the back rest 26. The foot treadle 18' is then depressed to start the machine, from, for example, the position shown in Fig. 1, in

'which position the pickers 57 are moving downward with a label, closely followed by the grip finger 113 which acts to grip the label and press it on the bottle. The pickers then start to move upward, leaving the grip finger to hold the label on the bottle while the wipers 127 are moved into the position shown in Fig. 8. The wipers are then moved downward to wipe the label on the bottle, the, grip finger acting to hold the label in position until the wiping operation 15 completed.

As the pickers 57 are moved downward from the position shown in Fig. 1 the paste roller 86 is moved outward to its extreme outward position beyond the end of the pickers. 'On the upward movement of the pickers after they have placed a label on the bottle, the paste roller moves inward rolling over the surface of the pickers to coat them with a layer of paste, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3,

After the pickers have received a layer of paste the same move upward into engagement with the bottom label in the pile paste roller moves inward into engagement with the roller 95, as shown in Fig. 3. Just about the time the pickers move into en- .gagement with the labels in the label box,

the/wipers have completed wiping the label on the bottle, after which the grip finger moves upward to a nearly vertical position inside the pickers by a very quick action. As soon as the pickers have removed a label from the label box, the pickers on their downward movement to place a label on the bottle, are closely followed by the grip finger which acts to grip the label and press it on the bottle as before described. The paste roller rotates in engagement with the roller 95 until the pickers have started to move downward with a label to the near vicinity of the bottle, closely followed by I the gripfinger, after which the paste roller ferred to.

moves outward beyond the end of the pickers as before described.

As soon as the pickers have removed a label from the pile of labels 7 8 in the label box 27, as before described, the label boxes are reciprocated so that the pickers will,

on their next upward movement, engage the bottom label in'the pile of labels 79 in the label box 28 the bottle being turned or shifted by hand to present a new surface to be labeled as soon as the wipers have completed wiping the previous label from the pile of labels 78 inthe label box 27.

As soon as a bottle is provided with a label from each of the label boxes 27 and 28, one on each side, or one in front and one in back, it is removed from the rest and a new bottle inserted to be provided with two labels.

, When, for example, it is desired to label handles like broom handles or rake handles and the like, the back rest 26 is removed and the rest 25 preferably elevated so that the top of the handle to be labeled will be in approximatel the same plane as the upper surface of t e bottle previously re- The machine operates in the same manner as before described; the handle can be labeled on one or both sides, close together or far apart as may be desired, the parts of the machine in the rear of the rest being open, and free of obstructing parts to permit the handle to be placed at any length on the rest, and when labeled to be shoved by hand through the machine for assembling on the other side out of the way of handles to be labeled. This feature is important as it-saves time in the operation ofv the machine as it is easier in most cases to shove a handle through the machine than to withdraw it, especially where the labels are widely separated along the handle.

From the above description it will be seen that a machine is provided, simple in construction, that is capable of applying two kinds of labels to the article to be labeled by simply shifting or turning the article for the reception of the second label, after the first label has-been applied, and in the case of handles the same can be labeled at either or both ends and shoved through the machine after being labeled; in many respects the present labeling machine takes the place of, and does the work of two machines in much less time, and with much less handling of the articles to be labeled.

While the invention has been described with particular reference ,to the details of construction, the same is not to 'be considered as limited thereto, as many changes can be made and still fall within the scope of the invention set forth in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a plurality of label boxes arranged above said rest, pickers, means for moving said pickers from said label boxes to the article to be labeled on said rest, and means for reciprocating said label boxes to alternately present one of saidlabel boxes to the action of said pickers on each reciprocation of the ickers.

2. A labe ing machine comprising in com-v bination a rest adapted to support an article ranged-above said rest, a set of pickers,

means for moving said pickers from said label boxes to the article to be labeled on sa1d rest, a paste roller, means for moving said paste roller over said pickers on their movement to said label boxes, and means for reciprocating said label boxes to alternately present one of said label boxes to the action of said pickers on each recipro cation of the pickers.

' 4. A. labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, 'a plurality of label boxes arranged above said rest, a set of pickers, means for moving said pickers from said label boxes to the article to be labeled on said rest, a paste roller, means for moving said paste roller over said pickers on their movement to said label boxes, means for reciproof said pickers on each reciprocation of the pickers, a grip finger, and means for moving said grip finger into engagement with the label on the article to be labeled.

5. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article -to be labeled, a plurality of label boxes arranged above said rest, pickers, means for moving said pickers from said label boxes geared segment arranged to engage said rack, pickers, means for moving said pickers from said label boxes to the article to be labeled on said rest, and means for oscillating said geared segment to reciprocate said label boxes to alternately present one of said label boxes to the action of said pickers on each reciprocation of the pickers.

7. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a plurality of backwardly inclined label boxes arranged above said rest,

pickers, means for oscillating said pickers from said backwardl inclined label boxes to the article to be la led on said rest, and means for reciprocating said label boxes in a straight line to alternately present first one and then the other of said label boxes to the action of said pickers on each oscillation of the pickers. i

8. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a plurality of backwardly inclined label boxes arranged above said rest, pickers, means for oscillating said pickers from said backwardly inclined label boxes to the article to be labeled on said rest, and means for reciprocating said label boxes in a straight line at right angles to said rest to alternately present first one and then the other of said label boxes to the action of said pickers on each oscillation of the pickers.

9. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a label box arranged above said rest, pickers arranged to be pivoted on the opposite sides of Said rest, a grip linger arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, means for moving said pickers from said label box to the article to be labeled on said rest, means for moving said grip finger to hold the label on the article to be labeled, the picker operating means and the grip finger operating means being arranged to permit the article after it is labeled being shoved through the machine in the rear of said rest.

10. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a label box arranged above said rest, pickers arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, a grip finger arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, wipers arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, means for moving sa1d pickers from said label box to the article to be labeled on said rest, means for moving said grip figner to hold the label on the article to be labeled, means for moving said wipers to wipe the label on the bottle, the picker operating means, the grip finger operating means and the wiper operating means being arranged to permit the article after it is labeled being shoved through the machine in the rear of said rest.

11. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a label box arranged above said rest, pickers arranged to be pivoted, on opposite sides of said rest, a paste roller arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of sa1d rest, a grip finger arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, wipers arranged to be pivoted on opposite sides of said rest, means for moving said pickers from said label box to the article to be labeled on said rest, means for moving said paste roller over said pickers on their movement to said label boxes, means for moving said grip-finger into engagement with the label on the article to be labeled, means for moving said wipers to wipe the label on the bottle, the picker operating means, the paste roller operating means, the

grip-finger operating means and the wiper operating, means being arranged to permit the article, after it is labeled, being shoved through the machine in the rear of said rest.

12. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a plurality of label boxes arranged side by side above said rest, pickers, means for moving said pickers from said label boxes to the article to be labeled on said rest, means for moving said label boxes alternately into the path of movement of said pickers, to present first one and then the other of said label boxes to'the action of said pickers on each reciprocation of the pickers.

13. A labeling machine comprising in combination a rest adapted to support an article to be labeled, a plurality of label, boxes arranged side by side above said rest at right an les thereto, pickers, means for moving sai pickers from said label boxes to thearticle to be labeled on said rest, means for moving said label boxes at right angles to said rest to alternately present into the path of movement of said pickers first one 13 situated at one side of said rest for moving said label boxes at right angles to said rest to alternately present into the path of move- 15 ment of said pickers first onelabel box and then the other to the action of the pickers.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 'ing witnesses.

EDWARD ERMOLD. "Witnesses:

WATSON K. GUTHRIE, LEO J. MATTY. 

